Salon: "The Enquirer’s ghoulish Whitney cash-in" (publishes a front-page photograph of her corpse)

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Friday, Feb 24, 2012 9:10 AM 10:30:15 GMT-0800
The Enquirer’s ghoulish Whitney cash-in
The tabloid publishes a photograph of her corpse -- and proves, again, just how low it will go
By Mary Elizabeth Williams

http://www.salon.com/2012/02/24/the_enquirers_ghoulish_whitney_cash_in/singleton/



What would you call a photograph of a dead celebrity, peddled out to a bottom-feeding rag? How would you describe an image running with the exclamation-pointed words “The last photo!” and details of how much money the jewelry on her corpse was worth? Creepy? Morbid? Gross? Speaking to Fox.com news on Thursday, ghoulish Enquirer publisher Mary Beth Wright thought her “world exclusive” purported photo of Whitney Houston laid out in her coffin “was beautiful.”

(The Enquirer isn’t yet running the image on its website, but it does offer an “exclusive” from a woman who claims, “I did crack with Whitney!” Oh, National Enquirer, you’re so predictable.)

Death voyeurism is nothing new for the Enquirer. In 1977, the tabloid famously splashed the image of Elvis Presley in his coffin on the front page. In 1980, it managed to go even grislier, devoting the front page to a murdered John Lennon in the morgue. Four years ago, it ran a “chilling final image” of what appeared to be the corpse of Anna Nicole Smith in a body bag, whose authenticity it then refused to verify.

Public viewing of the dead, both in person and via photographs, is not an uncommon occurrence. It’s part of how we process loss — and it’s also a grim way of peering into the abyss we all eventually face. It’s why, after all, we have open caskets in the first place. Consider the body of Lenin, which has been reposing in state for all the world to see for the last eight decades. And when James Brown died, images of his fabulously decked out body, on view at the legendary Apollo Theater, were ubiquitous.

[izquierdista]

1. But is it autographed?

If not, it's just another paparazzi pic.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. National Enquirer also published the crime scene pictures of

the hacking deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Graphic photos.

[Pachamama]

3. Saw picture....she does look beautiful....

It isnt a morbid shot....if you didnt know she was dead, you would think she was sleeeping. I guess I am one of the few that doesnt see anything wrong with this photo itself. If it was gruesome or a scene of a mangled body (like a war photo) I could see the outrage. The biggest outrage should be what has become the business of making money on celebrity through Paparazzi. But its completely legal and is becoming part of the culture we have become that is obsessed with celebrity. The photo should belong to the family and the money theirs or donated to Whitney's favorite charity. Instead its in the pockets of a corporation. That's what is despicable in my opinion.